Sasikala's conviction in disproportionate assets case – the story so far

Chennai: Following is the timeline in the case of disproportionate assets in which AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala and two of her relatives were on Tuesday convicted.

-June 1996: Subramaniam Swamy complains to Tamil Nadu Governor against J. Jayalalithaa for amassing assets disproportionate to known sources of income. 

-June 1996: DMK government registers FIR against Jayalalithaa.

-December 1996: Jayalalithaa arrested.

-June 1997: Chargesheet filed against Jayalalithaa, Sasikala, Illavarasi and Sudhakaran under Prevention of Corruption Act.

-October 1997: Madras High Court dismisses Jayalalithaaa`s petition challenging the permission by Governor to prosecute her.

-May 2001: AIADMK wins assembly polls. Jayalalithaa is Chief Minister. 

-September 2001: Supreme Court unseats Jayalalithaa for her conviction in Tansi land deal case. 

-February 2002: After her conviction is set aside, Jayalalithha becomes Chief Minister again. Wins assembly bypoll from Andipatti. 

-February 2003: Three public prosecutors resign as senior counsel, several prosecution witnesses turn hostile. 

-November 2003: Disproportionate assets case transferred to Bengaluru by Supreme Court on petition filed by DMK leader K. Anbazhagan on the grounds that fair trial was not possible in Tamil Nadu.

-February 2005: Karnataka names B.V. Acharya as Special Public Prosecutor.

-October/November 2011: Jayalalithaa answers 1,399 questions in Special Court.

-August 2012: Acharya resigns as Special Public Prosecutor.

-February 2013: G. Bhavani Singh appointed Special Public Prosecutor.

-August 2013: Appointment of Bhavani Singh withdrawn by Karnataka government.

-September 2013: Supreme Court dismisses order withdrawing appointment of Bhavani Singh.

-March 2014: Bhavani Singh fined for delaying final arguments.

-August 2014: Special Court reserves judgement in case for September 20.

-September 2014: Special Court convicts Jayalalithaa and three others with jail term of four years. Jayalalithaa fined Rs 100 crore and others Rs 10 crore each.

-October 2014: Jayalalithaa gets bail.

-December 2014: Supreme Court grants bail to Jayalalithaa.

-January 2015: Special Bench formed under Justice C.R. Kumaraswamy to hear appeal filed by Jayalalithaa and others in Karnataka.

-May 2015: Karnataka High Court acquits Jayalalithaa and three others.

-June 2015: Karnataka government appeals in Supreme Court against ruling. 

-January 2016: Karnataka submits arithmetical errors in Karnataka High Court`s judgement. 

-February 2016: Supreme Court starts hearing the case. 

June 2016: Apex court reserves judgement. 

-December 2016: Jayalalithaa dies. 

-February 2017: Supreme Court upholds trial court`s order convicting late Jayalalithhaa, Sasikala, Illavarasi and Sudhakarran.

With IANS inputs